γ) The Lutherans appeal chiefly to Matth. IX, 2, Luke XVII, 19, Rom. IV, 5, and Heb. XI, 1. But not a single one of these texts represents fiduciary faith as the instrumental cause of justification. The word πίστις occurs no less than eighty times in the Synoptic Gospels and in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, but there are only six passages in which it could possibly be construed as synonymous with _fiducia_, and in none of these is the interpretation entirely certain. Not once does the New Testament employ πίστις in the sense of “fiduciary faith,” _i.e._ a confident persuasion of one’s own righteousness.(791)
b) Tradition is in such perfect agreement with Scripture on this point that the Reformers did not venture to deny that their doctrine ran counter to the time-honored teaching of the Church. The Fathers unanimously insist on the necessity of dogmatic faith as a requisite of justification.
α) St. Fulgentius of Ruspe, who is regarded as “the best theologian of his time” (468-533),(792) in his golden booklet _De Fide seu de Regula Verae Fidei ad Petrum_, says: “I rejoice that you take care to preserve the true faith without which conversion is useless, nay, impossible. Apostolic authority tells us that we cannot please God without faith. For faith is the foundation of all good [works]; it is the beginning of human salvation, and without it no one can obtain a place among the children of God, because without it no one can obtain the grace of justification in this world or possess eternal life in the next.”(793) St. Fulgentius was a faithful disciple of St. Augustine, and the whole trend of his treatise shows that by _vera fides_ he understands not the Lutheran _fiducia propriae iustificationis_, but Catholic belief in revealed truth.(794)
β) This teaching is corroborated by the ancient practice of instructing the catechumens in the truths of revelation and requiring them to make a public profession of faith before Baptism. It was because they believed and professed the true faith that the early Christians, who knew nothing of the Lutheran _fides fiducialis_, were called “faithful” (_fideles_, πιστοί), to distinguish them from false believers or heretics (_haeretici_, αἱρητικοὶ, from αἱρεῖσθαι to choose), who denied some portion or other of the orthodox creed.